Combination sand trap and junk basket



May 13, 1958 E. N. BROCK COMBINATION SAND TRAP AND JUNK BASKET 'FiledJuly 15. 1955 INVEN TOR. ne N Brock Hu. @E ent I. NL T- United StatesPatent C COMBINATION SAND TRAP AND JUNK BASKET Eugene N. Brock, Odessa,Tex. Application July 15, 1955, Serial No. 522,220 Claims. (Cl. 10S-220) This invention relates to improvements in a combination sand trapand junk catcher for use in pumping wells.

Various sand traps have been proposed heretofore, but these, for themost part, were positioned within the string of tubing, as a partthereof, which necessitated the pulling of the tubing in order to removethe sand from the sand trap. Another type of sand trap, in useheretofore, was attached to the pump rods in such manner 'that they didnot readily lend themselves to catching and retaining junk and sandafter these materials were once trapped.

The present invention is so designed Ias to enable the trapping of thesand within one compartment of the trap, and the trapping of the junkwithin another compartment of the trap in such manner that the` sand andjunk will not be washed from the trap during the pumping Iaction of theoil, or by the turbulence caused by the oil, upon removal of the rodsfrom the Well.

An object of this invention is to provide a sand trap which will trapboth sand and junk, which trap is within the sucker rod line, so uponthe removal of the rods the sand and junk may be removed therewith. V

Another object of this invention is to provide la combination sandtrapand junk basket which will permit the oil to pass downward and outthrough slotted apertures in the junk basket and yet maintain the junkand sand within the respective compartments.

Another object of this invention is to provide a combination sand trapand junk basket, which may be readily assembled into or removed fromtheconventional sucker rods and which may be readily disassembled forcleaning the sand and other foreign debris therefrom.

With these objects in mind, and others which will manifest themselves asthe description proceeds, reference is to be Vhad to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in theseveral views thereof, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view through a well tubing, withparts shown in elevation, with parts broken away and with partsshortened, to show the details of construction; i

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig.` 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l;looking in the direction indicated by the .arrows.

When new wells are started to pumping, considerable steel cuttings areto be found in the pipe, which, during the initial pumping action of thewell pump, will be dislocated and will fall down onto the mechanismwithin the well, unless otherwise provided for, as will strands of hemp,particles of swab rubber and the like, which foreign matter is verydetrimental to the operation of the well pump. This foreign matter orjunk that falls into the well from the top, as Well as the sand that isentrained into the pumped oil will damage the pump mechanism and perhapsstall the plunger, which would necessitate the pulling and servicing ofthe plunger pump cups several times before a well is in condition forsuccessful operation, which process is expensive and time consuming, anddoes not forestall damage to the mechanism from sand and junk cominginto contact therewith. It is to this end that the present mechanism isprovided, that is, to trap the sand and to catch the junk, and to keepsuch material trapped while the well is pumping, to facilitate theoperation of the pump, to prevent damage thereto, and to be removed fromthe well simply by removing the sucker rods therefrom.

With more specic reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 generallydesignates a well tubing such as is used in oil wells, water wells andthe like, in which tubing 1 and sucker rods 2 are positioned. The suckerrods 2 are in reality a single rod formed of a series of lengths of rodjoined in end to end relation. Between two lengths of such sucker rods2, a coupling 3 is provided, which coupling is externally threaded toreceive a threaded connection 5 of a section' of a tubular sand trapmember 6, the exterior threads of which coupling 3 are indicated at 4.

The tubular sections 6 and 6a go to make up a sand trap of the desiredlength, which length depends upon the amount of sand entrained withinthe fluid being pumped. In some instances the trap need be no more thana foot or so in length, whereas in other instances, it may need to betwenty feet or more in length. The tubular sections 6 and 6a of the trapare screw threaded together, as indicated at 6b, which screw lthreadsmay be disjointed, if desired, to make possible a thorough cleaning ofthe trap. The lower end of the trap is imperforate and is adapted toreceive sand, as indicated at 7. A wire screen basket or junk catcher 8is in binding4 engagement with the upper end of tubular member 6a. Thewire screen basket 8 is open at the top, but has a truncated lower end 9with la hole 18 formed therein, which defines an annular outlet betweenthe rod and the lower end 9 of the Wire screen basket 8. Such largepieces of junk or foreign matter 2t), as steel cuttings, rubber, hemprope and other detritus that may nd its way into well tubing and' whichis too large to pass through annular opening 10, is retained in thebasket 8.

The upper end of tubular member 6a has slotted apertures 11 at spacedintervals therearound and therealong for the length of the wire screenbasket 8, so as to permit the ingress and egress of fluid. The screen 8is of such tine mesh as to screen out-all of the sand Within the iluidbeing pumped and such sand that is screened out drops downward in thescreen mesh basket and out through annular opening 10 at the lower endthereof. The sand that settles downward in the fluid enters the upperend of the tubular members 6 and 6a through guide member 12, comprisinga pair of complementary, semi-annular units, each of which unitscomprises a semi-annular inner ring, and a `semi-annular outer ring,radial ribs integrally connecting said semi-annular outer ring and saidsemiannular inner ring, which ribs are spaced apart and slope inwardlyand downwardly, said complementary semiannular units being doweledtogether by dowel pins 13 so as to form an axial recess, so said innerring will t closely around sucker rod 2. The composite semi-annularguide rings 12 have longitudinal openings 14 therethrough to admit readypassage of Huid, sand, junk or the like into the basket S, either duringthe pumping or While withdrawing the rods, carrying the trap, from thewell. The semi-annular guide rings 12 are screw threaded as indicated at16, to screw into the internal threads 18 on the upper end of tubularmember 6a. The guide member formed by the semi-annular rings 1 2 servesto center the rod 2 within tubular members 6 and 6a. If desired,auxiliary4 centering guides for the rod string may be used above andbelow the trap to prevent contact of the tubu- Patented May 13, 1958` 3lar members 6 and 6a with the tubing 2. However, such devices are wellknown in the art and form no part of the present invention.

Operation ,In thepumping Vof oil or water from bored holes, considerablesand is produced and is entrained in the uid being pumped from the well,and while sand is detrimental to the working parts of the pump, theparticular danger from such sand, is the sticking of the pump plungerafter the pump has been stopped for a time, which will permit the sandto settle out of the liquid being pumped, such as oil or water.

ln thepresent device, the sand settling out of the liquid, settles intothelower end of the tubing 1 above the pump plunger. Frequently severalfeet of this sand will settle to the lower end of the tubing 1, andbecomes compacted to such an .extent that, on starting the pump, thesucker rod may bepulled in two, before the pump plunger can be moved.However, with the present invention, the sand trap is provided on therods, which trap comprises tubular member 6, which occupies about twothirds of the internal cross sectional area of the tubing 1, thereforethe sand settling downward in oil or water in the quiescent state, willenter the tubular member 6 through longitudinal openings 14, passingtherethrough down into wire screen basket 8, and with the sand 7 passingoutward through annular opening 10 in the lower end of basket 8, whilethe junk, designated at 20, will be retained in the basket 8. And sinceit is within the intent of this invention, to utilize a series of thesesand traps, that is, a sand trap about every one hundred feet, and with.approximately two thirds of the cross-sectional area of the tubingscreened by each trap, therefore a well that is two thousand feet deepwill be cleaned to such an extent that it is estimated that only two orthree percent of the sand that is pumped upward in the tubing 1 willsettle back on the plunger of the well pump in the lower end of the rods2, and since each trap will take out approximately two thirds of theremaining sand, when the sand starts descending within the uid, verylittle sand settles back past the lower-most trap in the well, whichtrap is usually immediately above the pump plunger.

The wire screen basket 8 is of a mesh so fine as to prevent sand frompassing therethrough, therefore all sand -r settling downward throughopenings 14 passes out through annular opening 10, out through wirebasket 8 into the tubular sandtrap in the lower end of the tubularmember 6, which member 6 is closed by the coupling 3 and-.rods `Z.

Upon removal of the rod from the well the oil that drains downwardthrough openings 14 will drain out through apertured slots 11, with outthe'sand .passing through the slots back into the well, which sand willflow downward through annular opening .10, as indicated in Fig. 1. Theconical end 9 of the screen baskets is in relatively close fittingrelation with the'rod 2, with only asmall annular opening 10therebetween, so when turbulence is created in the oil, the escape ofthesand is, prevented,.as the mesh of the wire screen is so fine thatvthe sand that is agitated up around the trap will be caught by theconical end member 9 and retained in the. lower portion of the tubulartrap member 6.

AThe tubular screen member 8 is usually made of asheet of screen that istted in over-lapping relation, asshown in'Fig. 3, and is often live orsix feet in length, so upon removal of the sand trap and the rods 2 fromthe well, the sand trap and junk basket will be readilyrernoved, rst byremoval of the semiannular guide members 1-2 from the tubular member 6by unscrewing the semiannular pieces v12, whereupon, thesemay.be,.parted.and removed laterally fromabout rod. 2. Then the;connection 2 may be removed from the lowerrend of tubular threadedmember 6, whereupon, thisaallows` the removal of rod 2 which is screwthreaded ontotheconnection 3.

With the coupling 3 removed from rod 2 and with the tubing member 6, thetubular member 6 may be movedY longitudinally with respect to rod 2until the screen member, which makes up the junk basket 8, is removedfrom the end of tubular member 6, whereupon the screen member may beopened outward as a sheet and be removed laterally from the rod 2. Afterthe sand and junk have been cleaned fromithetrap, the parts may bereassembled in reverse order from the dis-assembly, and the trapreinstalled in the well for the accumulation of sand and junk thereinto,as hereinbefore set out.

While the device has been described and -.illustrated in one embodimentthereof, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minordetails of construction and adaptations made to diierent installationswithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. An apparatus for installation within a string of threaded sucker rodswithin a well tubing for entrapping sand and junk encountered therein;comprising a threaded coupling, lsaid threaded coupling being adapted tobe threadably secured between adjacent ends of a pair of threaded suckerrods within said string, a tubular member, said tubular member beingsecured to said threaded coupling and adapted to extend upward around aLportionof said sucker rod string within said well tubing to form a sandreceiving receptacle, the lower end of which is closed, said tubularmember having apertures formed in the upper portion thereof, aperforate, cylindrical screen iitted within the upper portion of saidtubular member and covering said apertures, said upwardly extending,apertured tubular member forming a sand trap, a guide member, whichguide member is tted on said tubular member near the upper end thereofand is adapted to embrace a sucker rod of said sucker rod string, saidguide means having longitudinal openings formed therethrough,said-longitudinal openings being in communication with the interior ofsaid tubular member.

2. Thel apparatus `as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide member hasa recess formed therein axially thereof, which recess slopes inwardlyand downwardly, said guide member being adapted to surround one of saidsucker rods vwhich is axially positioned With respect thereto.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim l, wherein said guide member. isformed of a pair of semi-annulancomplementary separable members, whichmembers are tted together and screw-threaded into the upper end of'saidtubular member, and which tubular member is adapted to surround a suckerrod in guiding relation.

4. An apparatus for installation within a string of threaded suckervrods within a Well tubing for entrapping sand and junk encounteredtherein: comprisingA a threaded coupling, said threaded coupling beingadapted to be threadably secured between adjacent ends of a pair ofthreaded sucker rods within said string, a tubular member, said tubularmember being secured to said threaded coupling and adapted to extendupward around al portion of said sucker rod string within said welltubing to form a sand receiving receptacle, the lower end of which 4isclosed, said tubular member having apertures formed in the upper portionthereof, a perforate, cylindricalscreen tted within the upper portion ofsaid tubular member and covering said apertures, said upwardlyextending, apertured-tubular member forming a sand trap, and'inwardlyand downwardly sloping, conicalperforate screen formed on the lower endof said cylindrical perforate screen, which conical, perforate screenhas an axial opening formed therein so said conical, perforate screenwill be adapted to surround a sucker rod of said sucker rod string insuch manner as to define an annular opening between said sucker rod andsaid conical, perforate screen to` permit sand to pass therethrough,.sosaid cylindrical, perforate screen and said conical, perforate screenwill form a junk retaining receptacle within said receptacle formed bysaid tubular member, a guide member, which guide member is fitted onsaid tubular member near the upper end thereof and is adapted to embracea sucker rod of said sucker rod string, said guide means havinglongitudinal openings formed therethrough, said longitudinal openingsbeing in communication with the interior of said tubular member.

5. An apparatus for installation within a string of threaded sucker rodswithin a well tubing for entrapping sand and junk encountered therein;comprising a threaded coupling, said threaded coupling being adapted tobe threadably secured between adjacent ends of a pair of threaded suckerrods within said sucker rod string, at least two tubular membersthreadably connected together with one end of said tubular members beingthreadably connected to said threaded coupling in such manner as toclose the end of said tubular member, said tubular members being adaptedto extend upward around a portion of said sucker rod string Within saidWell tubing, the upper-most of said tubular members having aperturesformed therein, said tubular members forming a receptacle, a perforate,cylindrical screen tted within said upper tubular member and coveringsaid apertures, said perforate cylindrical screen having afrusto-conical lower end with an axial opening formed therein, whichconical screen is adapted to surround one of said sucker rods in suchmanner as to form a restricted, annular passage between the lower end ofsaid conical, perforate screen and said sucker rod, a sucker rod guidemember fitted in the upper end of said tubular member and having anaxial openng formed therein, which guide member having longitudinalopenings formed therethrough in axially aligned relation with the axisof said guide member, which openings are in communication with theinterior of said tubular member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS541,846 Gilpin July 2, 1895 1,933,595 Kapp Nov. 7, 1933 2,687,913 BakerAug. 31, 1954

